Pupils at three schools in Ilkeston made sweet music during interactive workshops with E.ON.

The workshops saw participants use anything from bananas to plasticine and high-fives to make circuits that enabled them to create instruments and play music via their computers.

The innovative Creative Conductors workshops were held for pupils at St John Houghton Catholic, Ormiston Ilkeston Enterprise and Kirk Hallam Community Academies.

The sessions are designed to help pupils’ understanding of electricity, conduction and circuits, and concluded with students performing their musical creations for their classmates.

During the workshops, pupils rolled up their sleeves and experimented with a range of foods, plants and everyday objects which they clipped to circuit boards in order to demonstrate how the items could help conduct electricity.

“Pupils also learn how to complete a circuit and then use that power to create different sounds and ultimately make music.

“These hands-on activities have been specifically designed to fit within the physics, design and computing curricula, and to promote STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) topics to young people in a fun and inspiring way.”

Matt Price, head of art, design and technology at St John Houghton Catholic Voluntary Academy, said: “The class really enjoyed trying something new, and fully embraced the challenges they were set during the workshop.

“It was a lively session, and judging by the music produced, our pupils quickly came to understand that just about any material that can conduct even a tiny bit of electricity can work in this set-up.”

Creative Conductors forms part of E.ON’s broader educational activities, developed to help teach children about where energy comes from and how it is used in our everyday lives.

E.ON offers educational workshops through its Energise Anything programme, which also includes online parent-led as well as classroom-based activities.

These support the national curriculum and have been designed to help pupils aged between five and 16 understand all stages of energy production, distribution and consumption.

Full details and resources can be found at by visiting eonenergy.com/energiseanything.